Hermione Grange, planes hopper
by slytherinsal
Summary: a short whimsy, touching on the many universes of Harry Potter. Light! Lucius. In which Hermione Granger has come from a universe in which all things went pear shaped, and is travelling the multipotterverse to put things right where she can. Sometimes even a know-it-all can long for stability.


_Rather tongue in cheek in places but I hope you enjoy_

Hermione Granger, planes hopper

When Voldemort won the war despite all our best efforts, and I saw my best friends die, and I became a fugitive, I took the decision to follow up a theory that there were other realities . I managed to crack the arithmancy just in time to flee as deatheaters came to my door. And so, I travelled alternate realities, some of which were very, very odd, trying to arrive in time to prevent the horrendous ending to my own timeline.

When I showed up at a muggle bus station in time to see Lucius Malfoy go down to a nasty curse. Those cursing him seemed to be ordinary wizards, not deatheaters, but I saw Severus Snape with a student – gods, it was me! – moving towards him, concern written on his uncompromisingly black shoulders.

Let me mention that in a number of universes my other self ended up with Severus Snape, and it seemed to work. This version of me was only about twelve, and I confess the thought wandered through my head that I might even score here, before she got old enough to nab him, and then I could learn what the attraction was.

I apparated over.

A muggle man, rather scruffy, had also come over.

"Madmen!" he was saying, "Quick, need to get under cover!"

I had got there in time to recognise that an anti-apparation zone had been set up to stop us escaping.

"Show us cover," I said to the muggle, twitiching my wand to elevate Malfoy, whose femur appeared to be shattered.

He motioned us down steps to a toilet.

"It has some defensive features..." I muttered.

"Caretaker," he said, waving a plastic card in front of the door toilets always seem to have that nobody uses. He ushered us through into a combination of a cleaning cupboard and study. We just got in and the door pulled to as we heard boots on the stairs. Snape and I were both muttering words of a disillusionment charm to cover the door. I dropped a muffliatus on Malfoy as well; he was doing well not to yell out but he was plainly in pain.

Snape came up with an eavesdropping spell.

"You arse, your anti-apparation plainly didn't reach down here," said one.

"It does, so; there must be a secret way out."

"The tiles on the ceiling, do they lift?"

Our muggle friend, a scruffy looking man with a short black beard pulled a face.

"Unfortunately they do, and they might find their way into here."

Malfoy made gestures that he wanted to speak, and I dropped the spell.

"House elves!" he managed. "Dobby!"

Dobby, whom I had last seen when we buried him, popped up immediately.

"Master Lucius needs Dobby?"

"Get all of us in this room out of here; go get more elves to help." Dobby disappeared. "Why do you trust me, madam, and why are you familiar?"

"I'm from another reality; the Hermione Granger from the reality where Voldemort won," I said. "And in all the realities I've visited, Severus Snape is a man of honour, integrity and good. If he trusts you it's enough for me, and Miss Granger junior I will answer all the questions you are exploding to ask but not now."

"You sound like Professor Snape," said my younger self.

"He has always been a role model of mine," I said.

She cast him a speculative look as Dobby returned with four more elves. Damn; she'd realised. Oh well.

We whisked away to Malfoy Manor, and I worked on not shuddering. Two little boys ran up; Draco Malfoy and, sans spectacles, Harry Potter.

"Dad!" Harry grabbed one of Lucius' hands and Draco grabbed the other.

"Mr. Malfoy, Mr. Potter-Malfoy, take Miss Granger and go away. Miss, er, Granger and I will see to your father," snapped Snape.

"Would anyone poke me if I said gee, Toto, I guess we're not in Kansas any more?" said the muggle.

"We've never been in Kansas," said Malfoy.

"Muggle literary reference," I said, in concert with Snape.

"Right," said Malfoy. "You're a brave man, and believe me, I'll see you right for life. Have you any objection to working for me?"

"Sir, I'd be honoured," the muggle was looking about. "This place is a challenge to clean."

"I'm sure we can find you a more interesting job than cleaning, I saw your books."

"Just lie still and shut up, Lucius," I said. "Severus and I need to fix that leg."

"I dropped a numbing spell on it," said Lucius.

"You'll be needing that off and you will have a very rough night with Skelegrow," said Severus.

"What can I do?" asked the muggle.

"Tell us your name and if you have family who are going to notice you've gone," I said.

"I'm Richard Smith, and I have no family," he said.

"Fine; go and sit down. One of the elves will bring you a drink and biscuits," I nodded to one of Dobby's friends. She disappeared to do my bidding. The muggle wouldn't be able to see them of course, but it didn't matter. He was taking being apparated and dragged into a magical world very well, and a finger or two of firewhisky would probably do him no harm at all.

Severus had some standard potions on him, and Dobby fetched a skelegrow from the Malfoy family pharmacy store. With small boys around, I suppose it is a potion one almost has to have on hand. We wafted Lucius up to his bedroom before administering it.

"What about Narcissa?" I asked. "Where is she?"

"You mean she doesn't leave me in all the realities?" asked Lucius.

"No," I said. "This is the first one. And the first one where I've seen Harry calling you 'Dad',"

"You can tell her about it tomorrow," said Snape. "I have to get the younger Miss Granger home safely. Her parents will be having kittens. She had no right to be tailing you, Lucius, and I will give her a piece of my mind. Listening to the weasel has got her into deep trouble."

"Apparently she believes the lies Dumbledore put out right before Padfoot put him underground," said Lucius. "And I'd rather talk, if she'll listen, Severus. It will keep my mind off the pain."

"Very well. But if she thinks you need it, I know a well-trained witch when I see one, and I have no doubt she has inhaled every medical book there is."

"Not yet," I argued.

Severus Snape having left, I turned to Lucius. I had never noticed what a handsome man he was before; he had so often been the enemy, or changed sides later.

"You obviously know about the Boy-Who-Lived," he said.

"Yes; his mother's blood sacrifice saved him, and Dumbledore placed him, for some unknown reason, with his awful muggle relatives," I said.

"Yes, and that's where I came in," said Lucius. "I have a lot of investments in the muggle world, and I was already beginning to have second thoughts about having followed my father into following Tom Riddle, and having led Severus into it. I was making a deal with Grunnings Drills, and the CEO, Bill Grunning, asked me if I could use my alternative talents to check up on an employee for him. He guessed a lot, but I found myself investigating Vernon Dursley, whose boss feared may be mistreating his young nephew. He was right, and I'm sure you know how Harry was being treated. I met him out of school when he was five, and already being the subject of a game called 'Harry Hunting' by his cousin and friends. I apparated him to Malfoy Manor, and after a few spats, he and Draco settled down together. Pretty much as soon as Draco discovered he could speak to snakes. Is that the same?"

"Yes, Harry is a parselmouth," I agreed. "Narcissa wasn't happy?" I found myself feeling sudden anger towards that perfectly groomed witch.

"Oh, Narcissa was delighted, but not for the right reasons," said Lucius. "She thought he would be a perfect gift to use to return Voldemort, and rescue her sister. Anything she could do for Bellatrix, she would. And Bellatrix is ..."

I pulled up my left arm and showed him the shameful word.

"She carved this into me with a cursed knife," I said, levelly. "She tortured me in the room your elves brought us to."

"Miss Granger, you have cast orichalcum ones. In a manner of speaking," said Lucius. "I am sorry."

I shrugged, trying for nonchalant. I was becoming more agitated than the occasion warranted. Lucius smelled far too nice to be wasted on Narcissa.

"It's hardly your fault," I said. "I take it Narcissa is banned the wards?"

"And I divorced her," said Lucius. "And forbade her to see Draco. I'm not having him forced to bow to that frothing madman. But when Draco and Harry started school, they're both in Ravenclaw, by the way, a lot of people came up with the idea that I was corrupting the wonder-boy. So I'm a target to vigilantes, led by the Weasleys, who believed Dumbledore who said how happy Harry was with his relatives. Photographs of his emaciated state and wounds are held to be fake news. Dumbledore lived in cloud cuckoo land at best and was a manipulative predator at worst, grooming Harry to turn to the first person who was nice to him. He blinked at Black going to gaol without trial if he didn't actually connive at it, and the first thing I did was to get him out of gaol. He hates his cousins like poison."

"Has he made up with Severus?"

"Heheh that took a bit of work, but yes," said Lucius. "Over care for Harry. Both of them became godfathers to both my boys. Sirius and I are allies more than friends, and he still comes apart at the seams at times over his time in Azkaban, but we are trying to be the voice of reason against the time Voldemort does return"

I found I was staring into Lucius' silver eyes and finding that they were flecked with steel, violet and navy blue. I dragged myself to the practicalities.

"He has six horcruxes, which you will need to destroy, and I know what they are in most universes," I said. "The bad news is that Harry is one of them."

"Fuck," said Lucius.

I jumped. I had caught myself stroking his hand while he held mine tightly, fighting the pain. His chest was rather beautiful and ...

"That's not a half bad idea," I heard myself saying as a hot wave of lust rippled through me and I finally acknowledged what was unsettling me.

"Bloody hell, witch!" his face, and a portion of his light bedcovers reacted to me.

"I'll have to drive," I said.

"No trotting," he warned. "Walk, canter or gallop, but I can't take a trot ..."

I was pulling my clothes off and climbing into bed with him.

"Lucius," I said, "I'm making this up as I go along. I never got that far with anyone before ..."

"Then keep your knickers on, lovely planes traveller," he panted. "I'm not sure I could ..."

I kissed him, and he kissed me right back, and a velvet lined pit opened up in front of me. I dived right in.

Well what was I supposed to do? I let him bring me to climax with his beautiful and elegant fingers, and I performed the same office for him.

oOoOo

We woke up with the work of the skelegrow almost complete, with two curious little boys peering at us.

"Dad, is this your new main squeeze?" asked Draco.

It would be Draco.

"This is the future Mrs. Lucius Malfoy, if she'll have me," said Lucius, kissing my fingers.

"I'll have you," I said. I couldn't stop the innuendo in my voice, and he chuckled.

"Ew, gross, get a room," said Harry.

"We do; you're invading it," said Lucius, calmly. "Go and ask Dobby to bring us breakfast in bed and we'll fill you in later. How was the Granger girl?"

"A bit of a pain as usual," said Draco. "But at least she believes us now."

"Good; having your favourite nag off your back over what happened must be good."

"We showed her the photos and she cried," said Harry, quietly. "Okay, Dad, breakfast coming up."

They ran off.

"I love that boy," said Lucius. "Is that why Dumbledore was making him into a pawn? Because he's a horcrux and will have to die? Surely that's even more reason to let him have a happy childhood."

"I am very ambivalent about Dumbledore," I said. "I've seen well meaning arrogant foolish Dumbledores who thought they knew it all, through to Dumbledores who were very little better than Tom Riddle himself. I even came across one evil Dumbledore who had poisoned the world against a Tom Riddle who was trying to save the wizarding world. He didn't have any horcruces but Dumbledore did."

Lucius shuddered.

"How did successful Harry Potters get rid of the horcrux?"

"In some places, he had to die once to kill it, and lived on as himself; sometimes this was in the final battle, sometimes before. And sometimes he had it removed, usually by the goblins. Who could sometimes also remove the dark mark, which may need a parselmouth."

"Well, now, you give me hope," said Lucius. "And if all else fails, we shall have to warn Harry, and prepare him. Do you mind me asking you to stay here?"

"I think for the first time, I came home," I said.

Can you blame me? I had lost everything. And here was a Lucius who was all that was positive, and I could help him with the horcruces so Harry would live. And I would see it. And I would be Lady Malfoy, and a beacon for other muggleborns that way as well as by my studies. And I was tired of travelling...

I mentally hung up my beaded bag and our breakfast got cold on the side table as I snogged Lucius.


End file.
